Feel the same about the 40S&W as you use to?

All my shooting life I've had a 9mms, then a .357,then a .45 acp. Can't say a 40 will do anything the stuff I got won't do but I have to say I've been thinking about a 40 more and more. I don't know if it's I can't make up my mind on what I want or if it's I just want one in every flavor. When I bought my 9s it was ammo was more plentiful and much less expensive. All that's changed, these days it's almost hard to ask if any 9mms and if it is it's about two dollars less. 40 has been everywhere before during and after both panics.
 
Wow. Not quite a caliber war yet. Almost. Not quite.

What I think is just hilarious though is the "any practical difference" and "in any real-world situation" arguments. They are just too funny. Like anyone who spends any time on the internet knows anything about either of these.

I love this. "Return to target" and and "follow up shot" stuff. My goodness it's worth a million bucks to read about "follow up shots". I'm thinking that's so important I'm a fool for not carrying .380 ACP.

And here I'm thinking that getting a first shot is so unlikely it hardly matters what I'm shooting, but only to find out that follow up shots are really important, too. Wow. Just like at the IDPA matches. I'll have to reflect for a moment on the importance of those follow-up shots in 'real world' situations. But shucks...now I have to find 'real-world' situations where follow-up shots happened. Hmmm. Gotta a lot of real world situations where a lot of shooting happened, just not sure if it was 'follow up' or not. :)

OMG what a fantasy world. I can 'follow up' with 40, 45 and 10 just as quickly as I can follow up with 9mm in any situation I consider practical or remotely realistic. I think 40SW is an okay cartridge. I think 9mm stinks. It's fairly simple--I shoot what I enjoy shooting because I'm more likely to die from a heart attack while getting struck by lightning skydiving than from a dweebus attacking me with a lethal weapon. If I am attacked by someone with a lethal weapon, I'd be happy to be armed with 9mm. I'll be armed with 40SW, 45 or 10mm though...so I'll die a little bit happier I guess.
 
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The goal should be to have one firearm each for: .380, 9mm, 40, .357, .45acp. If you can afford, then add: 10mm, 44 magnum, and .357 Sig and 38 Super to that as well.
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Well, only if you want to have a bunch of guns in a variety of calibers. I have no use for or interest in .380 or 9mm (useless bs calibers that solve no problem I have) or .357 Sig (why?). So, that's NOT a goal I think anyone should have.

The goal should be to be an incredibly effective shooter, or to be an incredibly happy shooter, or both. The first if you want to defend yourself, be accurate or win shooting games. The second if you shoot because you like the 'bang'. Both are totally consistent and mutually-supportive goals.

Owning guns in calibers is, to me, mindless. No more meaningful than owning roller skates in different colors.
 
I grew up with a Ruger Standard 22lr as the home protection firearm. This same pistol passed to me from my father and served as the only firearm in a home protection role for many years. I didn't become interested in center fire pistols until around 2008 when I realized that if I had to use it in self or home defense it would probably be confisgated and I may loose it forever.

2008 was also around the time I became interested in protecting the Second Ammendment and reading gun forums including this one. I read all the caliber wars, shot several different calibers including the most commented ones here and when I decided on 40SW it was because that seemed to be the right choice for me. I am a big heavy built man and recoil tollerant. 9mm and 45ACP were the others that got the most consideration and of these two the 45would probably have got the nod. It could been have revolver calibers but I hadn't discovered how much I love revolvers yet, something I have since corrected.

Again 40SW was the right choice for me at the time I made it. If I was a smaller man that had trouble controlling the 40 I would probably have chosen 9mm.

To answer the OP my history with this debate doesn't go back quite 10 years but I still feel the same way as I did 6 years ago when I first considered the 40SW.
 
Going back to the OP

The original question:
Just wondering if folks feel the same way about the 40 S&W as you did say 10 years ago?
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Yes, I still feel the same way. There's nothing wrong with .40. It's within "Spats McGee's Window of Acceptable Parameters." IOW, it would do the job if I needed it to. I just don't have a use for it, though. If I want more capacity, I'll go 9mm and if I want something larger-bore, I'll go .45 acp.
 
seeker_two said:
The recent ammo shortage has changed my mind about owning a .40S&W. While I still want a pocket 9mm, I may also get a .40S&W full-size gun and a 9mm barrel so I can keep in practice no matter what.


BTW, what model gun does best with the .40S&W/9mm conversion barrels?
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I don't know about any models other than the glock, but my g22 an BarSto conversion barrel work without a flaw. And my AA .22 conversion too end works well on it too. If you are thinking of conversions, consider .22lr top ends also. Just a thought.
 
Wow. Not quite a caliber war yet. Almost. Not quite......
I think 40SW is an okay cartridge. I think 9mm stinks.
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Well, Bongo, looks like you made it a caliber war.:rolleyes:

Owning guns in [different?] calibers is, to me, mindless. No more meaningful than owning roller skates in different colors.
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Yep...until you find out that no one carries replacement bearings for your red roller skates, but if you had the white ones too, you could find bearings everywhere. Should have bought the red and white roller skates so that you wouldn't miss out on Tuesday night Nickel-Beer Skate with Fleegle, Drooper and Snork.:D
 
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I don't have a strong opinion about 40 S&W one way or the other.

It's a round I could take or leave and probably on the bottom of the list as far as calibers I own. The only reason I shoot it today is because I own a S&W 4006 and I really like the gun. That being said, if someone made me the right offer, I would be okay to part with it.
 
Yup,

Didn't like it when it first came out and I tried it in a Sig.

Years later, didn't like it when I tried it in a Beretta 96.

I wonder how many people today who tout it use the lightest bullet
weights. What are they now, just around the same weight as a 147 9mm?

Stick with the .45 ACP or the 9 mm Luger if you're into autos.

Or even the .357 Sig! Oh my gosh. :o
 
I've owned a couple of .40's, but no longer. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but its not a big enough step up from 9mm to stock another caliber in my ammo closet.

Besides, I prefer 9mm in a small gun, its easier to control and holds a couple more rounds. In a full size handgun, I want a full size cartridge, not a compromise.

But it is easy to see why LE agencies like the middle of the road approach when it has to arm and train a large number of people with varying abilities and statures.
 
Nope, I feel the same as I did 10 years ago-----still not interested.

That's not to say it isn't a good caliber, but there's nothing compelling enough for me to buy into it.
 
Count me in as a bonafide fan of the .40 since day one, which for me was with my first pistol, a Glock 23.

I still love it, and really more so than at first because over the years I've become aware of the potential that the .40 S&W has. I won't go so far as to call it magical, but I do believe that for the platform size that the .40 offers the most and has the best ballistics.

Take the G23 as an example, as a handloader I can run a 200gr bullet to 800 fps and have velocity so light that nobody would ever call it snappy, it's got less recoil than probably any 9mm I've fired. Makes for a great "gamer" load and eats very little powder.

I can load it up with any number of premium hollow points and have a self defense setup that is impressive indeed. Or, much like 10mm, with the right powder you can sqeeze every last drop out of the .40 if it's more power you want. From a KKM 4" G23 bbl I can run a 200gr WFNGC hardcast to over 1150, which will penetrate enough to kill a LOT of critters. If I want some expansion, a 180gr XTP at 1200 fps from a 4" G23 is a powerhouse. From a G35 you can add another 100 fps to those numbers easily, while still eating less powder than a 10mm will.

No, it's not exactly a 10mm but it's not that far off either, and I submit that no animal will know the difference between 1200 fps vs 1300 fps with the same bullet. I only bring up the numbers to show how much ground the .40 can and does cover. It can be as easy to shoot as a 9mm or offer up essentially 10mm performance and to me, that's a good thing.
 
No, it's not exactly a 10mm but it's not that far off either
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That's akin to saying mexico isn't exactly Texas but its not that far off either...on paper they may be right next to each other but in reality there's a world of difference between the two.
 
Well to actually answer your question, yes I feel different about it today, I no longer like it as a handgun caliber, too much flip and too much problems with pressure curves for reloading.

But I have found a NEW use for the 40 S&W that I absolutely LOVE. Better than ice cream with chocolate on it.

This - Hi-Point 4095 TS Carbine


Jim
 
Everyone has a favorite & an opinion!

By far the .40 has been more available during the ammo crunch.

By far the .40 is the most used LE round and has been for a while now.

The civilian market generally adopts the new LE/Military trends and equipment, when available, this has been shown in the distant past and currently.

I like to think of the .40 S&W as the culmination of many if not all of the attributes of the modern pistol cartridges (yeah, everybody say, "compromise".):rolleyes:

I happen to like it and it other than .357 caliber it is my only centerfire handgun caliber.
 
Yes

Mostly from ignorance. Never shot one, but realized that the 10 MM as a service weapon was an odd choice by the FBI.

With quality 9MM ammo I'd say the need for the .40 is a little less than it used to be.
 
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